The indices of antipneumococcal immunity in children with chronic pneumonia

In 76 children with chronic pneumonia the levels of serum antibodies to pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide antigens (serotypes 1, 3, 6B, 8, 9N, 15F, 23F), O-polysaccharide and pneumococcal protein somatic antigens were determined by ELISA techniques. The study showed that in sick children the content of antipneumococcal antibodies in the blood increased with age. No correlation between the content of total immunoglobulins and that of antipneumococcal antibodies in the blood of the patients was established, but a sharp decrease in the concentration of antibodies was registered in a child with hypoglobulinemia. No increase in the level of antibodies to pneumococcal antigens was observed in cases of the exacerbation of Pneumococcus-induced inflammatory process in the lungs.     

The quantitative analysis of lipopolysaccharide antigen in the blood serum of patients with salmonellosis by using complement-bound liposome lysis]

Titration of group B Salmonella O-antigen in the blood sera of patients and donors was carried out by means of the complement-dependent lysis of liposomes sensitized with S. typhimurium LPS. Good correlation (r = 0.95) of the levels of S. typhimurium somatic O-antigen in the patients' sera determined by liposomal immunoassay and aggregate hemagglutination test was established. The concentration of the antigens in the tested samples was within 0.5-50 micrograms/ml. Statistical analysis of the results obtained by liposomal immunoassay techniques demonstrated differences in the distribution functions for the blood sera of patients with different diseases and of donors.     

A Model of Glutamate Neurotoxicity and Mechanisms of the Development of the Typical Pathological Process

Biophysics - A glutamate model of stroke was analyzed from the standpoint of the development of a typical pathological process that is thought to occur when major regulatory mechanisms are...     

Shifting abundances of communities associated with nitrogen cycling in soils promoted by sugarcane harvest systems

Sugarcane cultivation supports Brazil as one of the largest world sugar and ethanol producer. In order to understand the impact of changing sugarcane harvest from manual to mechanized harvest, we studied the effect of machinery traffic on soil and consequently soil compaction upon soil microbial communities involved in nitrogen cycling. The impact of sugarcane harvest was dependent on soil depth and texture. At deeper soil layers, mechanized harvesting increases the abundance of nitrogen fixers and denitrifying communities (specifically nosZ clade I and II) while manual harvesting increases the abundance of ammonia oxidizers (specifically AOA) and increases denitrifying communities (nosZ clade I and II) on top and at intermediate depth. The effect of change on the harvest system is more evident on sandy soil than on clay soil, where soil indicators of compaction (bulk density and penetration resistance) were negatively correlated with soil microorganisms associated with the nitrogen cycle. Our results point to connections between soil compaction and N transformations in sugarcane fields, besides naming biological variables to be used as proxies for alterations in soil structure.     

Thermal tolerance and recovery behaviour of Thorectes lusitanicus (Coleoptera,Geotrupidae)

1. Population differences in physiological responses are examined in Thorectes lusitanicus, an endemic Iberian dung beetle species, by submitting individuals of different populations to the same experimental and acclimation conditions. 2. An infrared thermography protocol was used, consisting of three assays: start of activity, cold response, and heat response. Individuals of 12 populations were studied and the comparative explanatory capacities of several environmental factors in relation to the observed inter‐population differences were examined. 3. The heating rate from chill coma to the beginning of activity was the variable with the highest discrimination power among the studied populations, accounting for 94% of the observed variance. Regarding the heat response, only six of the 16 thermal variables reached significance (inter‐population differences accounted for 52–74% in these six thermal parameters). 4. From the three considered environmental factors (Mediterranean climate, land cover, and trophic characteristics) only land cover characteristics remain statistically significant, affecting the cold response of individuals. 5. Thorectes lusitanicus is a species characterised by a high diversity of thermotolerance and recovery traits across populations with a low degree of association with broad environmental factors. Finally, it is suggested that the apterous character of this species could be a determinant factor explaining the high diversity of ecophysiological traits related to thermal stress tolerance and the recovery time.     

Windthrows in forests of Kostroma oblast and neighboring lands in 1984–2011

A retrospective analysis of windthrows in southern taiga forests (Kostroma oblast and neighboring lands) is performed. The main traits of massive windthrows are calculated. The dominant spatial forms of windthrows are identified. The average annual rates of the forest-cover damage from clearcuts, forest fires, and windblows are compared. The topographical effect on the spatial distribution of fragments of massive windthrows is analyzed.     

Role of 5-aminolevulinic acid in the formation of winter rape resistance to sulfonylurea herbicides

Growing of winter rape (Brassica napus L.) plants for 7–8 days in the presence of a sulfonylurea herbicide Magnum (methsulfuron methyl; 200 and 500 mg/L) exerted an organ-specific influence on the seedlings: suppressed hypocotyl and root growth and increased the accumulation of fresh weight of cotyledonary leaves. Exogenous 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA; 0.1, 1.0, and 10 mg/L) partially negated the adverse effect of Magnum on the length and fresh weight of roots and hypocotyls and stimulated the development of cotyledons. The herbicide suppressed the activity of ascorbate peroxidase (APX). The addition of ALA to the 200 mg/L herbicide solution caused a steady activation of APX as compared with the effect of herbicide alone. In plants grown on Magnum solutions, the activity of glutathione reductase (GR) rose. Positive effect of exogenous ALA was only observed when 500 mg/L herbicide was used (Magnum-500 type of treatment). In plants grown on the Magnum solution, the content of reduced and oxidized forms of glutathione rose. In contrasty, exogenous ALA reduced the total content of glutathione but in this case the ratio between its reduced and oxidized forms rose. In the presence of the herbicide, the content of anthocyans considerably decreased and upon the addition of exogenous ALA their levels rose. In rape plants treated with Magnum, the ability to generate superoxide anion radical was essentially the same as in control plants; however, the content of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) therein rose. The addition of ALA to the herbicide reduced the ability to generate superoxide anion radical and the level of H₂O₂. The activity of acetolactate synthase remained on the control level when 200 mg/L Magnum was used, decreased in the plants of Magnum-500 treatment, and rose upon the addition of exogenous ALA to this type of treatment. It was concluded that ALA had a positive effect on the development of winter rape resistance to Magnum via stimulation of growth processes, activation of APX and GR, predominant elevation of the content of reduced glutathione and anthocyans, and partial recovery of acetolactate synthase activity, which on the whole caused a decrease in the H₂O₂ level and in the ability of plants to generate superoxide anion radical.